With a Scarf to Shield You
by R Amythest
Summary: Short and sweet modern AU. Soren stays in the dorms over break, but not for lack of offers.


Enjoy something sweet, faintly festive, and generally happy to tide you over (before I post a larger work in progress that will break hearts). I still don't own Fire Emblem.

* * *

Soren wrapped a thick scarf twice around his face, eying the clear but chilly air outside with distrust. The sun beamed cheerfully from a clear blue sky, light bouncing painfully from masses of white snow. It was precisely these sorts of days, not the ones with lightly falling snow advertising that it was merely something below thirty-two degrees, but the fair and sunny ones that liked to rob your skin of all tactile sensation the moment you stepped trustingly into a nice, _freezing_ beam of sun. He pulled his hat down well past his ears for good measure.

Bracing the toe of one boot against the wall, he gave the door a hard yank. The warm air in the room surged through the thin gap as the cold fought against him to slam the door back in his face. He managed to squirm out into the open before the door closed behind him with a rattle. The weather instantly attacked his thin pants. He wasted no time in setting off for the convenience store. Just a pack of filler paper and some toothpaste. He would have gladly put it off for a warmer day if the weather forecast hadn't predicted that the rest of the week would only take a turn for the worse.

It was three blocks between the dorm and the shop. Three blocks filled with students and their parents and younger siblings, hefting luggage across the footprint-dimpled snow. Soren felt the winter break dorm pass in his pocket and trudged past them, trying not to think about his own excuse for a family, a surprisingly difficult task all considered. It wasn't as if he hadn't spent the majority of his life without them. He didn't even _want_ to see them. Not even Pelleas. Especially not Pelleas.

"Have a good break, Soren!" he heard from somewhere to his left. He found Ike waving at him behind a partly loaded minivan. He dared to expose his ungloved hand to the winter air for a moment to wave back. At this, the other man – clad in a simple coat with the hood up – worked his way through a small pile of boxes and trotted through the snow and people to where the scarfed one stood. "Going home?"

"No, to the store," he replied, fibers of yarn working their way into his mouth. "I'm staying here over break."

Ike frowned transparently. "You're not going home to spend Christmas with your family?" Given that this was at least Ike's third mistake, Soren had just about given up on correcting him about his atheism when Ike volunteered, "Sorry. What do you celebrate again?"

"Nothing –" at Ike's blooming surprise, Soren relented with, "Well – mother celebrates Id ul-Adha."

"I hope that goes well for you."

"It was fine," he responded a bit quietly, not adding that it had been celebrated this year in the middle of November. Almedha had only called four times while he was writing a proof to tell him that everything was great and she wished he were there, oh and Nasir would be staying in his room – she hoped Soren didn't mind – _be nice_, he came all the way to visit, and was he _sure_ he didn't want her to save some of the lamb for him, because it would keep in the freezer for some time if he wanted any. His phone ran out of batteries partway through his adamant insistence that he didn't like holidays or lamb. He didn't put too much effort into locating the charger. "Merry Christmas. I'll see you when you get back."

Soren started to turn away and toward the convenience store when Ike interjected with "Hey, I think we could fit you in the van." Beneath the low brim of his hat, Soren's eyebrows raised skeptically.

"You want to take me home with you?" he said flatly.

"Why not? You need somewhere to stay, right?"

All of a sudden, Soren was glad that the cold was there to force him to wear that scarf, covering up the silly grateful grin that he couldn't keep from erupting on his lips. "No... the dorms are still open. Thank you, though."

Ike shrugged as if to say, _If that's what you really want_, glancing behind him at a mildly impatient Titania."If you need a place for spring break or something, let me know."

"I... I will. Thank you." Ike raised a hand as he stuffed the last of his boxes into the back of the van and slammed the trunk. He circled around and plopped himself into front passenger seat. Suddenly, Soren felt the need to say something more, and he settled for calling, "Don't forget how to add over break. You still need to pass stats in the spring." Were they that familiar? In sudden doubt, he regretted his choice of words.

Laughing, Ike called back, "I won't," before closing the door.

Liar, Soren thought to himself. Ike would get home and let his brain dissolve into a pleasant mess of football and gingerbread, while Soren would study Hausdorff spaces to test out of a semester of topology and – if he kept this up – save a year's worth of tuition. But – perhaps spring break?

He resumed his journey to the convenience store. He noticed that his toes were beginning to grow numb; he had been standing by the curb for too long. Beneath his scarf and his hat, his eyebrows pressed together and his lips seized the other way, and as he passed person after person with only his eyes visible, he was endlessly thankful that he would be spared the burden of explaining that he was fine, perfectly all right – perhaps the happiest he'd been in awhile.


End file.
